Anchor having improved fluke crown coupling

ABSTRACT

An anchor for marine vessels having an improved fluke which is removeably coupled to the crown assembly by a longitudinal flange disposed along the fluke inside edge. The removeable flukes allow the shank pivot shaft to be removeably coupled through the crown wall adjacent the fluke flanges.

[ 1 Dec. 25, 1973 United States Patent [191 Hungerford 114/208 Ogg114/208 R Johnson 114/208 R 2,789,526 4/1957Go11ner.........,............,........ 2 840,029 6/1958 2,722,19111/1955 ANCHOR HAVING IMPROVED FLUKE CROWN COUPLING [75] Inventor:Daniel Comstock Hungerford,

Primary Examiner-Milton Buchler Assistant Examiner-Ga1en L. BarefootAtt0rneyBarry L. Haley 22 Filed: Sept. 7, 1971 211 Appl.No.: 178,233

ABSTRACT An anchor for marine vessels having an improved fluke which isremove-ably coupled. to the crown [58] Field 207 208 sembly by alongitudinal flange disposed along the fluke inside edge. The removeableflukes allow the shank pivot shaft to be removeably coupled through thecrown wall adjacent the fluke flanges.

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2.641315 6/1953Danforth............................. 114/208 4 Claims, 6 DrawingFigures PATENTED UEBZ 5 I973 sum 10:

ANCHOR HAVING IMPROVED FLUKE CROWN COUPLING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates generally to twin-fluke anchors, and morespecifically to an improved fluke and crown assemblage for providingremoveable flukes with no reduction in the anchor holding strength.

In the past on twin fluke anchors, the flukes have generally beensecured to the crown side walls by welding. Welding is expensive andtime consuming and provides a permanent fluke mounting. Structuralfailures along the weld seams are common. Welding also restricts the useof light-weight materials such as aluminum for anchor constructionbecause of the loss in strength at the welded area without subsequentand costly heat treatment.

Applicants invention provides a fluke and crown assemblage havingincreased strength which requires no welding and permits the use oflight weight materials in construction and allows disassembling of theanchor elements for storage, shipping, or repair.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An anchor for marine vessels havingan improved fluke and crown coupling comprising a crown having a pair offlanged receiving side wall portions, a shank, a shank pivot shaftcoupled to said crown and said shank, a pair of flukes each having aflanged inside edge interlocked to said crown flange receiving portionsand a stock coupled to the bottom edges of said flukes. The flukes areremoveable from the crown side walls. The shank pivot shaft may becoupled to the crown through the crown side walls.

It is an object of this invention to provide an anchor having removeablycoupled flukes.

It is another object of this invention to provide an anchor constructedfrom lightweight materials such as aluminum.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide an anchor havingno welded portions between the flukes and the crown.

Yet still another object of this invention is to provide an anchor thatmay be disassembled for shipping, storage, or repairs.

And still yet another object of this invention is to provide an anchorhaving an improved shank pivot axis position.

In accordance with these and other objects which will be apparenthereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with particularreference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view ofApplicants invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of Applicants invention.

FIG. 3 is a close-up perspective view of the crownfluke coupling ofApplicants invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-section elevation of the crown-fluke coupling ofApplicants invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-section elevation of an alternate crown-fluke couplingin accordance with Applicants invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-section elevation of another alternate crown-flukecoupling in accordance with Applicants invention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawings andin particular to FIG. 1, Applicants anchor 10 is comprised of a crownhaving a pair of supporting members .12 rigidly attached at their endsto angularly disposed crown plates 14 and 16, a stock 20 disposedthrough apertures in the crown supporting members 12, a shank 24pivotably coupled between the crown supporting members 12 on shank pivotshaft 28 (FIG. 2). Symetrically disposed on each side of shank 24 is apair of flukes 18, each fluke having a T-shaped flange along the edgeadjacent the shank 24. On the outer side of each crown supporting member12 is a C-shaped female flange removeably coupled about a portion of theT-shaped flange of each fluke 18. The flukes 18 are connected to thestock by C-clamps bolted through the fluke surfaces.

Referring now to FIG. 2, crown supporting members 12 are shown coupledto crown plates 14 and 16. The stock 20 is connected through apertures38 while the shank pivot pin 28is connected between apertures 36. Withthe exception of the crown plates 14 and 16 which are permanentlycoupled to crown supporting members 12, the entire anchor may bedisassembled as shown in FIG. 2. This is possible because the crownsupporting members have an outside facing C-shaped female flange withprojecting arms 12A and 128 which are sized to receive the T-shapedflanged edge 18A of each fluke 18. The fluke flange 18A slides down intothe crown flange arms 12A and 12B, where it fits snugly. The fluke issecured to the stock 20 by C- clamps 22 (FIG. 1).

With removeable flukes 18, the shank pivot axis 28 (FIG. 3) may beseparated from the stock and moved forward closer to the front of thecrown support 12. This reduces the length of the moment arm whenever theshank is rotated into contact with the front edges of crown plate 14 or16 which define the limits of angular travel of the shank 24. The shankpivot shaft 28 is positioned in apertures 36 (FIG. 2), the ends of whichare adjacent the fluke flange surfaces 18A when the flukes 18 arecoupled to the crown support member 12.

FIG. 4 shows the male fluke flange 18A snugly coupled within the femalecrown flange arms 12A and 12B engaged in the working position. Howeverthe crown wall 42 in FIG. 5 has the T-shaped male flange 44 engaged tothe female C-shaped arms 48 protruding from a fluke 46, as an alternateembodiment of the flange coupling of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 shows a fluke flange 18A having a groove 18B disposed along thesurface adjacent the crown supporting member surface. The groove 18Ballows the shank pivot shaft to extend through and/or be bolted throughthe crown housing thus permitting the fluke to slide over the ends ofthe protruding shaft and/or the bolt head or nut attached to shank shaft28.

The anchor may be disassembled for shipping, storage or repair as shownin FIG. 2. Broken flukes may be replaced individually. When ready foruse the shank 24 is attached to the fluke by the pivot shaft 28. Flukes18 are positioned in and slid within the crown support flange arms 12Aand 12B, the fluke ends being stopped adjacent the stock apertures 38.The stock 20 is inserted into the crown housing apertures 38 and boltedto the flukes. The anchor is then ready for use.

Large forces are experienced along the crown-fluke coupling boundarywhich have caused welding seams to fail in the past. However the flangeboundary will take large amounts of stress and shear without breakdown,thus allowing for the use of lightweight materials such as aluminumwhich are difficult to weld and when welded are not very strong. Thecrown housing may be welded or riveted together (supporting members 12to crown plates 14 and 16 in a trapezoidal shape) or may be cast bymeans of a sand mold, permanent mold or die into one monolithicstructure. The top and base of the crown are open to permit flowthrough. The angular disposition of the crown plates with respect to thefluke plane is selected to aid fluke penetration into the mooringbottom.

Thus Applicant's anchor, having an improved crownfluke coupling providesa lightweight, dependable anchor that may be disassembled.

The instant invention has been shown and described herein in what isconsidered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment. It isrecognized, however, that departures may be made therefrom within thescope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to aperson skilled in the art.

What I claim is:

1. A twin fluke anchor comprising:

a stock;

a crown having a pair of parallel supporting walls coupled together by apair of crown plates; receiving means on said crown support walls;

a pair of flukes, one on each side of said crown, the

flukes coupled to the stock along the rear edges of means being a pairof flanged C-shaped arm members protruding outwardly from the crownsupporting walls; and a shank pivotally coupled to said crown.

2. An anchor as in claim 1, wherein said flukes inl elude:

flanged, T-shaped inner edge portions removeably engageable with saidC-shaped support arm members whereby the flukes are removeably coupledto said crown.

3. An anchor as in claim 2, including:

a shank pivot shaft coupled to said crown forward of said stock, saidshank pivotally coupled to said shank shaft at one end.

20 4. An anchor as in claim 3, including:

- said shank pivot shaft having a bolt head at one end and a nutreceiving threaded portion at the other end; v

a nut coupled to said shank shaft;

said flukes having grooved portions along said inner crown couplingedges to fit over said nut and bolt head.

each fluke removeably coupled to said support wall receiving means alongan inside fluke edge portion, said receiving means being on the outsideof said crown support walls, said support wall receiving

1. A twin fluke anchor comprising: a stock; a crown having a pair ofparallel supporting walls coupled together by a pair of crown plates;receiving means on said crown support walls; a pair of flukes, one oneach side of said crown, the flukes coupled to the stock along the rearedges of each fluke removeably coupled to said support wall receivingmeans along an inside fluke edge portion, said receiving means being onthe outside of said crown support walls, said support wall receivingmeans being a pair of flanged C-shaped arm members protruding outwardlyfrom the crown supporting walls; and a shank pivotally coupled to saidcrown.
 2. An anchor as in claim 1, wherein said flukes include: flanged,T-shaped inner edge portions removeably engageable with said C-shapedsupport arm members whereby the flukes are removeably coupled to saidcrown.
 3. An anchor as in claim 2, including: a shank pivot shaftcoupled to said crown forward of said stock, said shank pivotallycoupled to said shank shaft at one end.
 4. An anchor as in claim 3,including: said shank pivot shaft having a bolt head at one end and anut receiving threaded portion at the other end; a nut coupled to saidshank shaft; said flukes having grooved portions along said inner crowncoupling edges to fit over said nut and bolt head.